Thread by @shahanSean

The Shāfiʿī scholar Abū Isḥāq al-Thaʿlabī (d. 1035) wrote a short treatise on the eloquence of the Qurʾan called *قتلى القرآن*, which translates as “People killed by the Qurʾan”. This oddly titled work compiles stories of listeners struck dead by the beauty of the qurʾanic word.

One of those named in Thaʿlabī’s book is a son of the famed Iranian scholar al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ (d. 803) named ʿAlī. ʿAlī fell ill and the recovered, but then a man from Basra arrived who excelled in reciting the Qurʾan beautifully A messenger was sent to tell ...

the Basran man not recite the Qurʾan in ʿAlī’s company, but he did not Basran in time. And when the Basran reached ʿAlī he began to recite «And they say be made to stand before their Lord» (Q. Anʿām 6:30), ʿAlī collapsed and let out his last gasp as his soul exited his body.

There many pious stories such as these in al-Thaʿlabī’s book and elsewhere. And, indeed, the Qurʾan itself describes the effect of its eloquence and beauty on its earliest hearers in a famous verse …

«God has sent down the most beautiful of all teachings: a Scripture that is consistent and draws comparisons; that causes the skins of those in awe of their Lord to shiver. Then their skins and their hearts soften at the mention of God: such is God’s guidance.» (Q. Zumar 39:23)

But how did the Qurʾan actually sound in beginning? An early Meccan already as a measured recitation «recite the Qurʾān slowly and distinctly (wa-rattili ’l-qurʾāna tartīlā)» Q. Muzzammil 73:4). (BTW something odd is going in early MS for this verse. E.g. OI A 6991 [Chicago])

The Qurʾan had to compete in a world not just of poetry, but also of the Psalter and hymns – Jewish and Christan – and while many modern Muslims regard singing the Qurʾan as wrong, the wording of many ḥadīth *seem* to suggest otherwise.

Included in al-Buḫārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ is a tradition where the prophet states, “Whosever does not sing the Qurʾan is not of us (laysa minnā man lam yataġanna bi’l-qurʾān|ليس منّا من لم يتغنّ بالقرآن).”
sunnah.com/bukhari/97/152

In another ḥadīth, the prophet likens the recitation of Abū Mūsā al-Ašʿarī to the Psalms, “You have been given a melodius voice (mizmār|مزمار) like the voices of the House of David!” [cf. the Syriac mazmūrā|ܡܙܡܘܪܐ ‘psalm’ and mzamrānā|ܡܙܡܪܢܐ ‘psalmist’)
sunnah.com/bukhari/66/72

Edit: *an early Meccan sūrah already describes it as
(Geez!)